The manufacture of laminated glass involves the introduction of a settable resin between two sheets of glass or other material.
In one method of manufacturing a glass laminate described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,533 (Langlands), the two sheets are held at an angle with two sides corresponding, a resin applied to the lower sheet and then the upper sheet is lowered, thereby lessening the angle and forcing the resin towards the free edges. Thus, the resin and the air tend to be expelled during the lowering step.
In another method described in European Patent Application No. 0 156 719 (Langlands) the two sheets are spaced apart and sealed peripherally, the seal being air permeable but liquid impermeable. The resin is introduced , preferably under pressure, the air between the sheets being expelled through the seal and the resin filling the space. Further pressure may be applied on either side of the laminate thus formed by means of a process to improve the adhesion and to expel the last traces of air and to confine the laminate to a predetermined thickness.
In French Patent No. 2 384 404 an apparatus and method of laminating glass is described in which resin is deposited on a flat lower sheet and an upper sheet is flexed outwardly and lowered onto the lower sheet to form the laminate. The resin used in this laminating process is not flowable and therefore remains as a blob on the flat lower sheet.
The important property or feature of laminated glass is that the resin must be uniformly applied otherwise zones or weakness occur and these can lead to unsatisfactory and even dangerous situations.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of forming a laminate which ensures an even thickness of the resin.